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Saturday

The List

A man told me he had calculatedthe exact number of bookshe would be able to read before he diedby figuring the average numberof books he read per monthand his probable earth span,(averaging how longhis dad and grandpa had lived,adding on a few years since heexercised more than they did).Then he made a list of necessary books,nonfiction mostly, history, philosophy,fiction, and poetry from different time periodsso there wouldn’t be large gaps in his mind.He had given up frivolous reading entirely.There are only so many days.

Oh, I felt sad to hear such an organized plan.What about the books that aren’t written yet,the books his friends might recommendthat aren’t on the list,the yummy magazine that might fallinto his hand at a silly moment after all?What about the mystery searchthrough the delectable library shelves?I felt the heartbeat of forgotten precious bookscalling for his hand.